Fireplace flue

have a gas fireplace on the 1st floor of a 2 story complex. The condo was built in the 70's. The flue runs within the walls on the inside of the house. Have noticed the walls get pretty hot in the bedroom above the fireplace where it appears the flue runs thru on its way to the roof.

Aside from opening the wall, can I run something within the existing flue to better insulate it? Is this a serious flaw or danger?

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Fireplace flue

What should have been installed is class B vent chimney pipe. It is double walled pipe with a positive lock between each segment, with special thimbles when passing though combustible materials, etc. Depending on the brand of pipe you can have 1" clearance to combustibles or greater. You local codes may have stricter overrides than that clearance and require other things.

I too would be a little concerned about that. If you have never had the stove checked out I suggest having someone qualified check out its operations and check the install. It will most likely require pulling the stove to verify if the install was done right, and up to code.